[facelvega]

Yeah, that's some expensive glue, something like $50 on the MSRP-- per dollop.

 

[rhy]

so for those of us that bought these things and don't have the patience or talent to try and fix these things is there anyway of getting our money back or sending them somewhere to be fixed for free or are we just screwed out of the 30 something we paid for them?

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhy so for those of us that bought these things and don't have the patience or talent to try and fix these things is there anyway of getting our money back or sending them somewhere to be fixed for free or are we just screwed out of the 30 something we paid for them?

No, no, don't worry-- what's happened is that instead of paying for the repair and shipping both ways, Koss has set a policy of just paying for the repair and return shipping. i.e., if you send them back on your own dime, Koss will send you a fixed pair. Not just now, but for decades, and with no questions asked. That's the good part.

 

[rhy]

Can you give me the step by step on doing so? Is there some sort of form I can print out a la amazon that I can include in the package? Is it okay if I only send the headphones and not the package back it came with back? Shipping address? Etc?

 

[ghingus]

I sent my a130s back because the right driver was defective (stopped making noise after ten minutes of listening). Koss says they never got them, and I didn't insure the package, so they're gone...to bad, they sounded good when they were working...this all happened a month or more ago. Just thought I would document my experience before I leave Team Koss after a brief stay.

 

[ghingus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghingus I sent my a130s back because the right driver was defective (stopped making noise after ten minutes of listening). Koss says they never got them, and I didn't insure the package, so they're gone...to bad, they sounded good when they were working...this all happened a month or more ago. Just thought I would document my experience before I leave Team Koss after a brief stay.

Okay, so I went ahead and bought another pair and man! the first pair I got was never functioning correctly because these sound freaking amazing!! I may end up selling some phones. All I have to say is, don't knock the a130s until you hear them. I can't believe how good they sound for $30 bucks. I'm going to listen to them as my primary phones for a month and touch base again after that...give myself some time to settle down.

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghingus Okay, so I went ahead and bought another pair and man! the first pair I got was never functioning correctly because these sound freaking amazing!! I may end up selling some phones. All I have to say is, don't knock the a130s until you hear them. I can't believe how good they sound for $30 bucks. I'm going to listen to them as my primary phones for a month and touch base again after that...give myself some time to settle down.

Yeah... don't sell either koss can short based on price. I spent some time A/B/C-ing the A250 with a couple K701s, my RS1 and HF1. The A250 IMHO is comfortably on the same playing field with all these cans, in a lot of ways. I wouldn't consider it to be my primary can, It would need a little more bass bloat to accomplish that. But it has turned out to be a nice compliment to my RS1 and HD580. The 3 cover a lot of ground. I really want to hear it with an EC-SS.

 

[rhy]

0101

 

[tyre]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kramer5150 I spent some time A/B/C-ing the A250 with a couple K701s, my RS1 and HF1. The A250 IMHO is comfortably on the same playing field with all these cans, in a lot of ways. I wouldn't consider it to be my primary can, It would need a little more bass bloat to accomplish that.

The lack of bass bloat is the A/250's best attribute. Nothing but deep and controlled bass.

They're definitely a great set of cans, easily competing with my K340. Hmm, there needs to be an A/250 smiley.

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyre The lack of bass bloat is the A/250's best attribute. Nothing but deep and controlled bass. They're definitely a great set of cans, easily competing with my K340. Hmm, there needs to be an A/250 smiley.

Tyre, I can't remember if I've read what you're using for an amp, but I'm surprised to hear you say this, because-- though I still love the A250-- my K340 seem to have them beat across the board. However, the K340 don't come into their own with about half the combinations of amp/source that I have handy; only the beefiest ones can really drive them. But then again I don't exactly have an exhaustive selection. The best I have here for them is my vintage Sansui amp, which I used to dislike with headphones, but it's proven its worth on the K340 and PMB100.

I can say that when it comes to detail resolution (which for me is the single most important measure of headphone quality), my A250 handily whip virtually all the dynamic headphones I've had or have spent any time with: that means everything up to HD580/HD595/DT531/K400/QP95, and at least up to an SR-325i in the Grado line.

They do have flaws, though: they work best with a rig that complements their slightly brittle sound rather than exacerbating it, and the soundstage though broad seems somehow discontinuous, occasionally with funny positioning. In practice these are minor qualms, though, in a fine headphone. That people are still generous enough to sell them well under $100 is a fine sign for this forum-- as opposed to the value of a pair of K340, whose classic status has really driven up the prices. (in the US, that is: still sometimes cheapish over here)

 

[Lindah1]

Picked up the last pair of A130s on ebay today. Looking forward to trying them out. If I can get my hands on a pair of A900s to audition, I'll do so and post reports. Needed a pair of closed circumaural for work/airport/airplane/home for movies and lite alternative. This is my first pair of serious headphones (where I didn't just grab a pair off the shelf at CC or BB), but with the new baby, it's pretty much mandatory for action movies. I'm a little concerned about the isolation when it comes to the crying baby, an airport and an airplane, but we'll see how it goes. For $38 shipped, I can't complain, and if I do, check the for sale boards

. I didn't want to kill the soundstage with something like the HD 25-1 or K81DJ, so I started looking at the A900s when facelvega suggested these. I still intend on auditioning the A900s, so expect a comparison before long. Can anyone comment on the isolation compared to the A900s or even the HD 25-1s/K81DJs?

EDIT: I don't expect isolation from a baby crying... just some damping. The mandatory part was more for the baby than me... she doesn't like explosions from the subwoofer from my 5.1.

 

[plywood99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lindah1 Picked up the last pair of A130s on ebay today. Looking forward to trying them out. If I can get my hands on a pair of A900s to audition, I'll do so and post reports. Needed a pair of closed circumaural for work/airport/airplane/home for movies and lite alternative. This is my first pair of serious headphones (where I didn't just grab a pair off the shelf at CC or BB), but with the new baby, it's pretty much mandatory for action movies. I'm a little concerned about the isolation when it comes to the crying baby, an airport and an airplane, but we'll see how it goes. For $38 shipped, I can't complain, and if I do, check the for sale boards . I didn't want to kill the soundstage with something like the HD 25-1 or K81DJ, so I started looking at the A900s when facelvega suggested these. I still intend on auditioning the A900s, so expect a comparison before long. Can anyone comment on the isolation compared to the A900s or even the HD 25-1s/K81DJs?

Dont have the other cans but do have the A130. They offer good Isolation but I think you could easily hear a baby cry with them on. The isolation is not as strong as an iem. Btw the a130s' are quite a good can at the price and you will probably be more than satisfied with them...


Ply

 

[facelvega]

Hello everyone,

I've finally received my a130, so now I've finally had the opportunity to open it up and compare it to my a250. Now that I've done it, I can see that any of us with a250 might have realized what was up after seeing the a130 driver fix thread. Take a look (I'm just showing the backs because I don't want to tear off the earpad cushion from the front):





(sorry for the slight lack of clarity on these late-night photos)

The first thing you notice is the difference in the size of the housings. In principle, though, this shouldn't matter so much because the aperture for the driver is the same. Yet in the spot where the a250 driver is glued down, the a130 has an adapter plate instead to make a smaller driver fit. It's this adapter plate and the fact that the smaller driver just clicks into it and isn't glued that causes the famous rattle problem. You can see in the pic I've already done the ghingus scrap-of-paper mod, which seems most appropriately contemptuous for the laziness of the botched-in adapter plate.

You can see the smaller driver is not even 35mm across, and doesn't even look very similar to the a250 driver. One wonders whether the housing wasn't big enough to handle the larger one, or if the head office made the designers detune the a130 to justify its lower price point.

In any case, as to sound quality, I can tell you that despite its small driver the a130 isn't bad at all, but it is, as many here have suspected, no a250. I find that the a250 competes at the level of the HD600/650, K701, DT880/990, and SR-225/325i-- perhaps it doesn't win this category, but it does deserve to stand in it. The a130 on the other hand, is more a competitor at the $100 msrp bracket. Among my many headphones, I'd place it just above my AKG K240 and below my Beyer DT531, which is of course a respectable rank indeed. Certainly the a130 sounds far better than my KSC-75. But sadly an a250 it is not.

 

[wualta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by facelvega The first thing you notice is the difference in the size of the housings.

I always wondered if they were interchangeable. Obviously, they aren't. Which makes those closed-back ESP/950 'stats an even bigger mystery.


Quote:

..the a130 has an adapter plate instead to make a smaller driver fit. It's this adapter plate and the fact that the smaller driver just clicks into it and isn't glued that causes the famous rattle problem.

Yes! Amazing! They didn't even seal the adapter to the baffle! This would give varying amounts of bass to different owners, depending on how loose a given adapter was. Some silicone glue seems called for here. I assume there's no gasket.


Quote:

..the smaller [A/130] driver doesn't even look very similar to the a250 driver.

I always assumed the drivers would be similar for economies of scale, but I see they're very different indeed. Does it resemble a KSC-75 driver?

Quote:

In any case, as to sound quality, I can tell you that despite its small driver the a130 isn't bad at all, but it is, as many here have suspected, no a250.

I wonder if making sure of that baffle seal would help the A/130. It would for sure help the rattle.

Great photos, very illuminating.

 

[biged]

Hey, has anyone else compared the 250 to the 130?

Ed